Posts Tagged ‘Waterloo Region’

Smart on Crime means….

As the theme of Smart on Crime in Waterloo Region began to take shape, we wanted to make sure that this community plan reflected your ideas of what ‘smart on crime’ means. We took to the ‘internet streets’ and asked you to share your ‘smart on crime’ ideas. The challenge was thrown down….

In 7 words or less, we invite you to finish this statement:

“Being Smart on Crime means…”

If you would like to add your ‘Smart on Crime means…’ statement, feel free to add it using the comment box at the bottom of the page.

Here is the growing list of responses we’ve received.

• a commitment to preventing crime ~ Bill Davidson, Langs Farm
• connecting what’s right with what works
  ~ Christine Bird, Alliance for Children & Youth of Waterloo Region
• best decisions for today and the future identifying and addressing social disparity
• investing in PREVENTION, not prisons
  ~ John Shewchuk, Waterloo Catholic District School Board & WRCPC Chair
• community involvement; people don’t victimize an “US” ~ Graham Yeates, 2010 Candidate Kitchener Ward 9
• community awareness, active participation = safe city ~ Giselle
• commitment to long term investments and approaches engaging communities, identifying needs and developing strategies
  ~ Chris McEvoy, Kitchener
• understanding, connecting and caring for all citizens ~ Julie Hill, Waterloo
• making prevention a community priority ~ Susan Cameron, Kitchener
• making prevention a priority ~ Jane Mitchell, Regional Councillor, Region of Waterloo
• fostering respect & trust, sharing wealth & opportunity ~ Kate, Waterloo
• demonstrating caring, respect, imagination, momentum & empathy ~ Bruce
• learning about it, preventing & stopping crime
• being proactive by investing early in people staying proactive, not reactive
  ~ Julie Lass, Region of Waterloo
• addressing root causes and social disparity ~ Lindsay Klassen
• dedication, cooperation, anticipation education and rehabilitation ~ Dan, Kitchener
• develop respect through example and education ~ Sharon Kropf, Waterloo Catholic District School Board
• utilizing practical and well reasoned preventive methods
• don’t just toss money at the problem ~ Todd Cowan, Woolwich Township
• prevention through fostered community partnership and outreach ~ Daniel Lamhonwah, Region of Waterloo
• always stay alert and ready to help ~ Marina Ducharme, Waterloo Catholic District School Board
•  focus on prevention, not just criminal justice  fostering trust and belonging ~ Lisa Armstrong, Waterloo
• building community, building awareness ~Atinuke Bankole, Cambridge, 2010 Candidate Regional Councillor
• being respectful, reliable and responsible ~ Anton Milardovic, Teacher, St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School
• evidence based public policy, not blind ideology
• impact, not react ~ Sharon Charbonneau, Waterloo
• challenging basic assumptions and proposing unconventional alternatives
  ~ Emily Schacht, Waterloo
• providing community supports, not mandatory minimum sentences ~ Reg Weber, City of Cambridge
• making decisions using quality evidence based research ~ Wayne Morris, Conestoga College
• investing in children and youth ~ ZS Worotynec, immigrantchildren.ca
• creating alternative opportunities building community ~ Trent, Kitchener
• knowing the difference between fact and fiction ~ ROOF
• educating ourselves and our children ~ Carolyn Bickers, Region of Waterloo
• providing community supports, not incarceration ~ Reg Weber, City of Cambridge
• getting to know your neighbours raising our children as a community
  ~ Paula, Kitchener
• wisely implemented primary, secondary & tertiary prevention ~ Larry Fletcher, White Rock. B.C.
•  implementing techniques to maintain a safe community ~ Shelley, Region of Waterloo
• decisions directed by knowledge, not ideology~Tom Brenner
• looking for the ‘why’ of crime
• supporting evidence based, long term successes
• abandoning what we know DOESN’T work
•  building an informed community
• treating victims & offenders with dignity
• community awareness
• community responsibility – we’re all responsible for living safe
  ~ Joanne Wilson, Community Placement, Region of Waterloo
• building safe neighbourhoods through strong community partnerships
  ~ Steve Beckett, Waterloo Regional Police Service
• addressing the root causes of crime
•  listening to what kids have to say
• being aware of yourself and your community ~Deborah Howard, Region of Waterloo
• providing healthy supports and opportunities to everyone
•  creating a culture of peace and acceptance ~ M. Backewich, Waterloo Catholic School Board
• criminal justice is not used to deal with health & social issues
• taking (and sharing) walks through the neighbourhood ~ Jason Hammond, Grand River Car Share
• taking an asset building approach
  ~ Wraychel Horne, New Hamburg/Youth Opportunities Unlimited, London
• Be active in your neighbourhood association
  ~ Donna Reid, Cambridge, 2010 Candidate Ward 1
• proactively replacing negative motivators with positive ones ~ Derek Satnik, Kitchener Candidate for Regional Council, 2010
•  providing proactive positive reinforcement
  ~ Aaron Fewkes, Wilmot Township Candidate for Ward 4, 2010
•  seeking causes, finding solutions, building a future ~ Patti K., Region of Waterloo

Early intervention is the best prevention

Lunch programs, after-school groups and homework clubs do more than give kids full bellies, friends and better marks.

Years later, they may also keep them from committing crimes and make those children less likely to need costly special education programs.

Those conclusions are among the latest findings of a nearly 20-year-long study that has tracked hundreds of kids from disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Ontario.

The project, Better Beginnings, Better Futures, is a massive undertaking that has involved researchers from universities across the province, including three from Wilfrid Laurier University.

WLU psychology professors Geoff Nelson, Mark Pancer and Colleen Loomis hope the province takes notice of their ongoing project’s latest findings — piling more evidence onto their argument that at-risk children who participate in early prevention programs are more likely to succeed later in life.

“When we first started, we weren’t sure if this kind of approach would work. But the striking thing is we find some pretty significant impacts, not only on the children, but on their families and on whole neighbourhoods,” Pancer said.

At the time, it was a four-year program that spanned junior kindergarten to Grade 2, and gave children things like in-school help, nutrition and behavioural programs. Their parents and neighbourhoods got to choose what was offered, hired staff, and received programs ranging from job search help, parenting and language training.

In the latest findings, children in three participating neighbourhoods — Cornwall, west-end Toronto and Sudbury — were compared with kids from two communities with similar economic conditions and characteristics who did not go through the program.

The result? Years later, the kids who went through the Better Beginnings programs were less likely to commit property crime, more likely to have success in school and socially, and had better-functioning families. They had fewer emotional and behavioural problems, too.

The program also saved governments money on things like special education programs, child welfare and youth court expenses, Pancer said. Later on, he expects those savings will grow, as the participating kids stay out of the welfare system and criminal careers.

At a cost of about $1,000 per child, that’s money well spent, the researchers say, considering it costs over $100,000 a year to incarcerate a person in Canada.

“It just makes economic sense,” Pancer said. “We’re already seeing significant financial savings.”

The findings come as no surprise to people who work closely with young children.

The school system, they say, has long played a large role in determining success later in life, including crime prevention. They say a struggling child who never gets help in those early years has a much greater chance of having a troubled life later on.

“The earlier you can intervene and spot the difficulties students are having, the better off they’ll be down the road. You’ll have people who are better equipped to survive in today’s world,” said John Shewchuk, chair of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council and spokesperson for the local Catholic school board.

“There are many, many thousands sitting in prison right now because those kind of early intervention programs were never there for them when they needed them.”

But it’s not just schools that have a role, Pancer said. Community-based programs like those offered by the Lang’s Farm Village Association can also make the kind of differences the Better Beginnings projects illustrates.

Bill Davidson, Lang’s Farm executive director, said this kind of study is important because it proves claims long made by childhood programs — from recreational to social — that say they set kids up for better lives, he said.

He’d like to see the Better Beginnings program expanded across the province.

“It’s making the kind of difference that it should,” he said. “But I think most countries are slow to adapt to this kind of thinking. Part of the problem is we haven’t had the evidence, prior to now, to demonstrate that.”

Advocates say expanding Better Beginnings into Waterloo Region wouldn’t be that difficult. It could be added to programs already in place here to make a more comprehensive approach to early childhood prevention, said Natalie Brown, co-ordinator of the Alliance for Children and Youth of Waterloo Region.

From the Waterloo Region Record, Thursday December 2, 2010
gmercer@therecord.com